One
of the major challenges the expedition faced in crossing the Pacific
Ocean by pedal power was a 350 mile belt of water just north of
the equator known in lay terms as 'the doldrums'. As with the early
sailors finding themselves floating helpless for weeks or even months
in this area of relative calm, Jason and Steve likewise envisioned
themselves spending weeks 'going nowhere' pedaling against a modest
but persistent 1.5 knot counter-current.

For
this reason an overland route by bike, kayak and hiking through
Central and South American to Peru was chosen from where pedal boat
Moksha could be launched to use the southern hemisphere currents
and winds to pedal to the Marquesas and onto Australia.

The
plan was thwarted however by the effects of the 1997 El Nino that
swept out large sections of the Pan American Highway and reversed
the anti-clockwise flow of the ocean currents in the Southeast Pacific
region. After 7-months biking and kayaking through Mexico, Guatemala,
El Salvador and Honduras, the expedition abandoned its southerly
path in Tegulcigalpa, Honduras and returned to San Francisco to
attempt the less-favoured option of crossing the Pacific via the
equator.